In Too Far: Volume III
by BlueNeutrino
Summary: Third in the In Too Far series. Barty is struggling to hold his relationship with Gwen together as the Death Eaters' demands get more dangerous and Sander comes closer to finding out the truth.
1. Chapter 1

_**In Too Far: Volume Three**_

**Summary: Third in the **_**In Too Far**_** series. Barty is struggling to hold his relationship with Gwen together as the Death Eaters' demands get more dangerous and Sander comes closer to finding out the truth.**

**Rating: M. I think I may have just about got away with a T rating for the most part in the previous two volumes, but this one is easily going to be the one that most needs an M rating.**

**A/N: Here it is at last, the start of Volume Three. I am so sorry for how long this took. I tried and tried and tried to get this chapter written, but it just felt like swimming in custard. The harder I tried the more difficult it got. Despite knowing exactly what I want to happen none of it flowed properly, I was really struggling with how to express what was happening, and in general I just didn't find writing this easy. So, I apologise that after the long wait the end result isn't very good. However, I just don't think I could work on this any more without completely killing off the fun of writing it, so if you don't mind this chapter being a bit dodgy then hopefully I'll have got back into the swing of things a bit more by the next one.**

**This is essentially a rewrite of the end of Volume Two, but more from Barty's point of view and it covers some of the stuff you didn't see last time. I'm not sure if you'll think it's any good or not, but if you've read this far already I hope you like it enough to want to continue.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own any of this, other than any characters that aren't recognisable from the books.**

**Part Three, Chapter One**

As he pushed the door to their suite open Barty could tell Gwen was about to say something. She had a look on her face as if she was about to ask a question, but he didn't want to let her finish. If she started asking questions he knew he was going to have to lie to her again, and he hated having to do that. Better to not let her say anything at all.

The moment he'd shut the door behind them he leaned in to kiss her again, silencing the words that were just forming on her lips. Initially she seemed a little taken aback, but then he felt her relax and she opened her mouth to kiss him back eagerly. _That's better, _he thought, _let's not talk, let's just do this._

He pulled her over to the bed, enjoying the taste of her as he lowered her down onto it. This was what he wanted. The entire boring evening would be worth it just for this. No thoughts of Death Eaters, or Karkaroff, or his father…just Gwen. In this moment she was all he needed.

For the first time in a long while he realised he was completely at ease. All the thoughts that had been plaguing him for days suddenly seemed to have been silenced, and he was just happy to enjoy being with her. As she pulled him down on top of her he let out a faint moan, taking time to enjoy the feel of her soft, warm body beneath him. They weren't in any rush. He just wanted this to last for as long as possible.

Gwen moved her hands up to undo his bow tie, and although for a second he was happy to just let her carry on he suddenly realised what it meant and pulled back abruptly. Judging by the look on her face he thought he might have alarmed her, but he couldn't mess up by letting her see his Dark Mark now. It might be a good idea for him to switch out the lights before they started doing anything. "Just a second," he muttered to her as he reached for his wand, and was taken by surprise when Gwen suddenly reached out a hand to stop him.

"You, er…you know you don't have to," she murmured, and he saw he blush bright red as she always did when she felt self conscious.

The state of contentment he'd just been in quickly evaporated and he suddenly felt anxious again. Why did she have to suggest this now? She'd been too shy and awkward about it for months, so why was she suddenly alright with not doing it in the dark? He stared at her for a moment, a little surprised and unsure how to react. It wasn't so much that he minded leaving the lights on – in fact, he would have quite _liked _to have left them on, except that it was so damn risky for him. "Really? You're sure you're alright with that?" he asked her, trying to disguise his own discomfort and hoping she would change her mind.

She looked uncertain for a moment, but her response disappointed him. "Yes."

So she was sure about this then. Did he have any choice but to go along with it? He wasn't sure what she'd think of him if he objected. "Just give me five minutes," he said as he clambered off of the bed and headed to the bathroom, trying to work out what to do. He didn't look at her as he shut the door behind him, but hoped he hadn't come across as being too nervous. He couldn't let her start to suspect anything was wrong.

He took off his suit jacket and hung it on the back of the door, and then undid his left cuff and rolled up his sleeve to expose his inner forearm. The Dark Mark glared up at him, much fainter now than it had been when the Dark Lord was at his full strength, but still quite clearly etched onto his skin. He knew he couldn't get rid of it. There wasn't even any way for him to use magic to hide it. He'd tried to before – concealment charms, masking charms, disillusionment charms…but nothing worked. The Dark Lord had been clever when designing the Mark of his followers. He wouldn't let them have an easy escape should they find themselves arrested or facing trial. They were forced to bear the mark as a sign of loyalty, and there was no way they could try to deny it or try to hide their allegiances should the aurors come for them.

Some people might have thought that arrogant or stupid, that Lord Voldemort made it so difficult for his followers to conceal themselves, but Barty liked it. There was something profoundly special about having been marked personally by the Dark Lord, and he had once thought that anyone truly loyal to the Dark Lord would never wish to conceal it and would bear the Mark proudly. Part of him still thought that, but with the Dark Lord gone now he knew it was more important than ever to keep this secret. He couldn't be of any use to the Death Eaters in helping find their master if he ended up in Azkaban.

And more than that, he still wasn't sure how Gwen would react to knowing the truth about him. He could try and explain it to her – try and explain the politics and beliefs that had attracted to him to the Death Eater cause in the first place, but he just didn't know if he could ever make her see things the way he did. Right now, he didn't want to risk it. Even though he still dreamed of the day he'd be able to display his Mark in public and be proud of it, he knew that right now he had to keep it hidden.

But doing that wasn't exactly easy.

He gave a frustrated sigh as he examined the Mark on his arm, wondering what he could possibly do about it. It wasn't anywhere near as vivid now as it had been back in September, but it was still very much noticeable. But if it had faded, did that mean a masking charm might be more effective on it now?

Barty slid his wand out of his pocket and then pressed the tip of it onto the tattoo, muttering the incantation for the spell even though he wasn't entirely convinced it would work. He was disappointed, but not at all surprised, when the Mark remained just as vivid as it had been before.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Barty let his arms fall back to his sides and he glanced up at himself in the bathroom mirror, running his tongue nervously over his lips as he did so. He noticed his reflection seemed rather worried, and he tried to put on a much calmer front. _I'm just going to have to cover it up, _he thought to himself, _put a bandage over it and think of a story to tell Gwen. She won't be too curious about it, will she?_

He didn't know for sure, but he didn't much like entertaining the notion that she wasn't going to buy into it. He'd just have to keep her distracted. He raised his wand again and murmured a spell to conjure a ribbon of gauze from thin air, which he then wrapped round his arm to fully conceal the mark before pulling back down his sleeve. That was going to have to do.

Despite trying to convince himself everything would be fine, he still felt worried. His face felt rather flushed, and he splashed some cold water on it from the tap to try and calm himself down. He wasn't sure he looked entirely calm yet, but he couldn't keep Gwen waiting too long. It was time to get back to her.

Barty swallowed anxiously, still feeling uncomfortable, and he reached up to undo the top couple of buttons on his shirt before snatching up his jacket and walking back out into the bedroom. _Just try and act casual, _he told himself, _it won't be a big deal as long as she thinks everything's normal._

Gwen was sat on the bed waiting for him, and he gave her a smile as he crossed over to her. "Sorry. Anyway, where were we?" he said, and was surprised by just how calm he'd sounded. That thought immediately made him feel better, and he relaxed a little more as he leaned in to kiss her. However, he immediately tensed up again as she suddenly stiffened and didn't respond. He pulled back from her and gave a slight frown, using up all his self control to not show just how panicked he was. "Gwen?"

The moment of panic quickly passed as she looked confused for a second, and then gave a small shake of her head and muttered, "Sorry," before leaning in to kiss him again.

_Now this is much more like it, _he thought, calming down immensely as he realized everything would be alright after all. He pushed his tongue forward into her mouth, letting himself relax and once again just enjoying the sensation of doing this with her. She lay back down on the bed and he climbed on top of her, giving a faint growl of pleasure as she moved her hands to his back and pulled him closer to her. Everything else had disappeared from his mind again and all he could concentrate on was her. Her taste, her scent, her body…

He wanted her now. Craved her. Even though he kept trying to pretend that this was about what _she _wanted, about making it up to her after the other night, he knew that it wasn't. This was about what _he _wanted. He wanted to please her just so that he knew he had something that bastard Westerbeck would _never _get. She was his. She _wanted _to be his and she was never going to want to belong to anyone else…

Gently, he lifted her off the bed again as he moved his hands to her back and tried to undo her dress. He wanted it to be straightforward, so it wouldn't have to interrupt them, but as he fiddled with the fastenings he felt himself growing increasingly embarrassed at his inability to get them undone. In the end he just gave up and pulled back from her with a huff. "How the fuck does that work?" he muttered irritably, glowering as if it was the fastenings' fault.

Gwen just seemed to be amused by it, and she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer to her again, "Hook and eye and a zip. It's not that hard," she teased as she resumed kissing him. He made a faint grumbling noise of irritation, but it died in his throat as one of her hands went to the back of his neck and the other went to his chest, undoing the rest of his shirt. He sucked in a gasp of pleasure at the sensation of her cool fingers lightly brushing over the skin underneath, and then she pulled the shirt off his shoulders and tossed it to one side. He was kissing her more aggressively now, growing impatient, and his hands went to her back to try and undress her again.

His eyes were closed and he'd almost managed to stop thinking about the risk of what she'd say when she saw the bandage, but then he felt her suddenly pull away from him and his eyes snapped open again. This was going to be the difficult part, he knew, and he hoped it would be over with quickly.

He held his breath as he let his hands return to her waist and studied her expression nervously, waiting for her to speak.

She had a rather apprehensive look on her face that was reflected in her tone. "Barty, what's that?" she asked him, having noticed the bandage.

_Act casual. _"It's nothing," he replied, but even to himself that had sounded incredibly forced. Why was he struggling with this so much? He never had trouble lying to other people, but with Gwen it suddenly became so much more difficult. "Don't worry about it. It isn't important," he said, hoping that would be enough to satisfy her. He leaned in to kiss her again before she had chance to say anything else, but she put up a hand to stop him.

"No, seriously, Barty. What did you do to it?" She had spoken firmly and was looking at him with an expression of concern. He was beginning to sense that she wasn't going to buy into his explanation readily, and that irritated him. Why couldn't they just carry on with what they'd been doing and not bother about this?

"I spilt revealant potion on it at work. Got burnt a bit, that's all. It's not bothering me." That was a perfectly reasonable explanation, he knew, and he really hoped she'd stop asking now.

But by the look on her face he could tell she wasn't satisfied. "Really?"

_Come on, twist the truth a bit. You know you're good at that. _"Look Gwen, I know my father's a bastard, but he's hasn't been quite so horrible that he's driven me to slashing my wrists, if that's what you're thinking," he said, managing to laugh, but he knew already that what he'd said had sounded altogether too sinister.

Gwen looked even more uneasy once he'd said that and didn't speak again for several moments. The silence only gave him more time to start panicking, but then she quietly muttered, "Alright," and leaned in to kiss him briefly. He didn't react, not trusting himself to not make the situation worse. "Sorry, I think I need five minutes too," she said before getting up off the bed and crossing to the bathroom.

He watched her get up without moving, his mind racing as he tried to work out what to do. At the last second he felt a rush of panic and thought he should try and stop her, but then he realised that would probably be the worst possible thing he could do. As she closed the door behind her he let out the breath he been holding and collapsed back down onto the bed. _Fuck fuck fuck fuck._

She wasn't buying it. So what did he do now?

He gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists as he thought about how everything had gotten so messed up. Why the fuck couldn't this one thing just go right for him? With all the other shit he was having to deal right now with why couldn't this one evening have gone the way he wanted it to?

Rolling over, he slammed his fist into mattress and almost let out a cry of frustration, which he managed to silence at the last second. _Don't panic, _he told himself, _stay calm and think. You've got to do something before she gets back._

Even as he considered all his options he was beginning to realise there was only one real course of action. He'd told her he'd burnt his arm, and he had to make the lie believable…

"Oh fuck," he muttered quietly to himself, but he knew that she was going to be back in the next five minutes and he didn't have time to think of anything else. He was going to have to do this.

Taking out his wand, he ripped off the bandage and pressed its tip to the inside of his arm. No time for anaesthesia spells, just get on and do it. Quickly. He didn't think about what he was doing. If he had, he probably wouldn't have done it. Instead, he just tried to focus on remembering the incantation, taking a deep breath and screwing his eyes shut before muttering, _"Incendio."_

White hot pain seared across his arm as flames licked at the flesh. He almost cried out, but then managed to muffle it into a choking sound, scared that Gwen might hear. His eyes were watering but he forced himself to look down at his arm and see the damage he was doing. The skin was turning red and shiny where the flames seared across it, but the Mark was still showing up. "Fuck," he gasped, breathing quickly as he tried to get a handle on the pain. He pushed the tip of his wand harder into his arm, letting out a faint sob as his flesh began to swell and erupt into blisters. The Mark almost appeared to be melting, the inky black lines spreading out like oil across his skin. Its shape became distorted and began to blend in with the angry lines of red that were now forming as he dragged his wand across the outline of the tattoo.

The pain was almost unbearable, but he knew it was necessary. Gritting his teeth, he looked down at the absolute bloody mess he made and felt a sense of relief as he realised the Mark was barely recognisable any more. Unless Gwen knew what she was looking for there was no way she'd be able to tell what it was. But _fuck _that hurt.

Still, he was sure he could heal it later. But right now he didn't know how much time he had. He quickly used his wand to get the bandage to tie itself back around his arm, wincing at the pressure it applied. Glancing at the bathroom door nervously, he decided he had time to risk casting a numbing spell. There was no way he could keep up the act of _anything _being normal in this much pain. He quickly pointed his wand at his arm again and whispered, "_Analgesio._" It took the edge off, but didn't numb it completely. He sucked in a deep breath again and grimaced at the throbbing ache in his arm, but he didn't have chance to try casting a stronger spell before he heard the handle on the bathroom door turning again. He quickly shoved his wand back into his trouser pocket and positioned himself on the bed so that he was watching the door, and he couldn't help but lick his lips nervously as he waited for Gwen to come out.

As she opened the door and glanced up at him she looked incredibly uneasy, but tried to give him a smile. "Sorry," she said quietly as she walked back over towards the bed.

He quickly stood up in front of her and grabbed hold of her shoulders, determined to try and put an end to this now. He knew he couldn't tell her the truth, but he didn't want her to be upset. "I'm sorry, Gwen. What I said was stupid," he said sincerely, not finding it difficult to be solemn when his arm hurt so bloody much, "I didn't mean to trivialise something serious, but I just don't want you worrying about me. I'm fine." He wasn't convinced that simply telling her that was going to work, but he had to try. "Don't think about me anymore now. I just want this evening to be about you, so please just try and relax and have fun." Those last few sentences sounded a little more desperate and pleading than he would have liked, but he genuinely meant them.

She looked up at him and gave a small shake of her head. "Barty, no. You can't tell me something like that and expect me to just go along with it. Of course I'm going to worry about you. If you've burnt yourself just let me have a look at it, make sure it's alright. I'll feel much better if you do."

To him she sounded nervous and worried, and that only made him even more uneasy. He knew he _could _show her the burn now, but he'd made such a mess he was worried about how she'd react. "Gwen, no, really. It's fine."

"Well, just let me look," she repeated, and began to reach out towards him arm.

He reacted in panic, snapping abruptly at her as his own hand went to grab her wrist. "Gwen, stop it."

She let out a slight gasp as his fingers closed round her arm, but it didn't register with him straight away. Why the fuck did she have to do this? He kept trying to get her to drop the subject, but she was just refusing and making everything so much worse. A mix of pain, anger, and frustration was clouding his brain and he was finding it difficult to think straight. He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

Gwen gave a slight whimper as she next spoke. "Barty, please…" she whispered, and with a sense of horror he realised how tightly he was gripping her arm. It hadn't been intentional – it was only in response to the pain he himself was in – but it suddenly dawned on him that he must have been hurting her. With a sense of self-disgust he quickly let go of her arm and looked down at the floor.

He hadn't meant to do that. He genuinely hadn't intended to hurt her, no matter how angry he was, but she was making things so difficult.

Barty let out a long, shuddering breath as he tried to decide what to do next. He could show her. She wouldn't like what she saw, but at least it wouldn't find out the truth. It would be easier to handle her freaking out over how bad the burn was than have her freak out over realising he had the Dark Mark.

Slowly, he reached out his bandaged arm towards her, resolved with himself that this was the only real option he had. "Go on, then. If it means that much to you, take the bandage off."

Her eyes flickered from his face to his arm and back again as she bit her lip nervously. She looked a little uncertain, but then gave a small nod. "Alright," she said, reaching up to gently unravel the bandage.

He grimaced slightly, but tried not to react to the fresh waves of pain she caused. As the layers of fabric came away he saw her eyes widen in horror as she slowly uncovered more of the livid burns underneath. He held his breath, waiting to see what her reaction would be but reconciled with the fact that the evening was already ruined by now. He just hoped that this would be enough to get her to believe him.

She looked up from staring wide-eyed at the burns to his face again, wearing a horrified expression. "Barty, what the fuck?"

**A/N: Grr. I hate this chapter. I just feels really slow, clunky and flat. I don't know if that's how it came across to you, but that's the way it felt writing it. Not how I wanted to start of Volume Three at all. I'm hoping I'll get back into it a bit more next time.**

**Sorry about how little new action there was in this. I knew it was going to be a recap, but I had hoped to get more of Gwen's reaction in at the end. But since I struggled with this so much I thought it might be best not to try and force myself to write any more. I think this has been a bit of a problem chapter due to how much I was having to make it match up to the last one, and I think I'll find the next one easier as I'll have more freedom to write whichever way I like again. I hope you all enjoyed it more than I did and didn't think that was a completely disappointing start to this volume. **

**On a more positive note, there is now a second video to go with this story which I've linked to in my profile page. It's a bit short and I'm not quite as pleased with it as the last one, but it's tied in more to the events of this particular volume. It focuses more on Barty worrying about Karkaroff's trial, about how far his involvement with the Death Eaters goes, and about how he eventually gets caught. There's not so much of Gwen in this, but you do get a very brief glimpse of Sander if that's enough to tempt you into watching it.**

**Thank you immensely to all my reviewers who have put up with the long wait for this chapter. I can't thank you enough for sticking with me, no matter how long this story's gone on for. It's always really encouraging to know that people who've read it since chapter one are still interested fifty or so chapters later.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry it took me a while to update again, but there's been a lot of real life stuff that's got in the way right now and giving me less time for writing. I still absolutely intend to see this story through right to the end, but updates may end up only being once a month for a time. I don't want it to become that infrequent, but it might have to be, so sorry in advance.**

**Part Three, Chapter Two**

Gwen stared at Barty as if not quite able to process what she'd just seen. "What the hell did you do?" she whispered, almost in disbelief.

"I told you, I spilt revealant potion on it," he answered, and Gwen couldn't help but think that if that was the case he seemed unnecessarily defensive.

"How much? A gallon?" she remarked, shocked by just how severe the burns were.

He scowled at her. "No, it was just highly concentrated. Has to be for revealing well disguised curses."

Gwen didn't look at all convinced. "Well, didn't you go to a healer or something? That looks really nasty." She was still holding his arm while examining the burn and he suddenly snatched it away from her.

"Of course I did," he snapped, "But the whole point of revealant potion is that it stops something being magically tampered with. There's nothing they can do. I'll just have to wait for it to heal." He knew he was being overly aggressive with her, but he couldn't help it. Panic was beginning to set in and every word that came out of his mouth only seemed to make the situation worse. Why had he been so arrogant as to think he could hide it from her? He should have known from the start to be more careful.

Gwen was still looking at him with an expression of mistrust, and despite knowing it was completely justified he hated seeing her like that. Her eyes darted from his face down to his arm, which he now held cradled against his chest as he tried to hide the burn from her. She swallowed nervously and looked back up at him before asking another question. "When did it happen?"

There was a pause before he answered, during which he glanced down at the floor and licked his lips as he tried to work out what to say. After about two seconds he realised being too hesitant would only make things worse, and he quickly blurted out, "Yesterday."

"How?" Gwen asked immediately, clearly desperate to get to the bottom of what had happened.

He hadn't been prepared for this and the lie felt clumsy as it partially formed in his head and left his lips. He wasn't even all that sure what he was saying, but he hoped it would be enough to throw her off the scent. "I went to collect some bottles of potion for an investigation and knocked one off the shelf."

Gwen's eyes narrowed slightly, and it was obvious she still didn't believe him. "Onto the floor?"

"Yes." He answered quickly, trying to sound sure of himself, but when Gwen's next question came he realised that had been a bad answer.

"Then how did you get it on your arm?"

_Damn. _He wished he'd been better prepared and had had time to think this through, but he hadn't been expecting anything like this to happen. Now what was he supposed to say to her? If she found out the truth it was more than just the evening that was going to be ruined.

There was a moment's silent as he seized up in panic, but then he quickly forced himself to speak again. "I didn't realise the stopper was out."

Gwen eyed him uncertainly, and he could almost see the cogs turning in her mind as she tried to decide whether or not to believe him. He knew that really it was an awful explanation. If she pried any deeper then there was almost no way he could come up with a convincing story, but he was hoping she didn't want to take this conversation any further. She was clearly just as uncomfortable as he was and it would be easier for both of them if she just let the matter drop.

Gwen didn't say anything, but she held Barty's gaze for several seconds without blinking. He did the same, hoping that at any moment she would just tell him everything was fine and that they could carry on as before. But when she finally spoke it wasn't what he'd been wanting to hear. "Really? You promise that's the truth?"

She still didn't believe him. From the expression on her face she looked like she wanted to. Her wide eyes seemed to be imploring him to tell her it was true, and he wished he could say that and mean it. But really it would just be another lie. He hated having to do this. She'd never been anything but completely honest with him, but yet almost everything he'd told her about himself was false. All the excuses he'd given her about what he was doing at work, where he was living…none of it was real.

But what was real were his feelings for her. If there was anything he could be honest with her about it was that. But if he really cared about her he was going to have to lie. She couldn't know the truth just yet. One day... one day he would be honest with her, but right now it was too dangerous for both of them. If it would make her happy to believe everything was alright then he was going to have to keep pretending. That was his justification for it when he opened his mouth to lie again.

"Yes." He spoke the word abruptly, the sharp syllable hanging in the air for several seconds as its meaning sank in. Several seconds passed in silence as they both just stared at each other, trying to work out what the other was thinking.

Barty was beginning to grow more nervous the longer it took for Gwen to react, but he knew he couldn't have responded any differently. She would either have to accept that he was telling the truth or that he'd just lied to her again, and he didn't think she really wanted to believe the second option. Sometimes people would choose not to believe something if it made them feel better, and he hoped that on this occasion Gwen would do just that. He didn't want her to be part of all the other stuff that was going wrong in his life right now. If she could just be happy with him then that was all he needed.

He watched her, barely breathing as he waited for a reaction. She bit her lip nervously and glanced down at the floor, and Barty felt his stomach squirm as he realised things were only getting worse. Gwen shook her head and then turned away from him, walking away from the bed to pick up her bag. "Barty, I'm sorry, but I think…I think I should go…"

She wanted to get out of here, and he felt a sudden rush of panic as he realised he would do anything to stop her. He couldn't let her go. Not like this. He was supposed to be making up with her, not driving her away. How the fuck had this gone so wrong?

Just as Gwen was going to collect her shoes he suddenly snapped out of his panicked daze and darted over to her. He gripped onto her shoulders and tried to pull her back towards him, not wanting to let her leave. "No, Gwen, don't. Please stay."

He sounded pathetic, even to himself, but the neediness in his voice seemed to have an effect on her and she looked indecisive for a moment. It almost seemed like she might change her mind, but then she shook her head again, resolved. "No, I can't. This is too much…"

He spoke over her, not wanting to hear any more. "Gwen…"

Suddenly she glared at him, anger flashing in her smoke grey eyes. "Barty how can I stay when I know you're lying to me?"

It hurt to have her look at him like that, and more than that it hurt because he knew she was right. But he still couldn't stop the next words that came out of his mouth. "Gwen, I swear I'm not."

"I don't believe you." She seemed to be trying to pulling away from him, but in his desperation he gripped onto her shoulders more tightly and refused to let her turn away.

"Gwen! Please…" He sounded desperate now, but he couldn't bear to think he'd fucked this up so badly. Really, he knew he'd already fucked everything up, but if he could just get her to stay than perhaps somehow he could make everything alright.

Gwen was staring at him wide eyed, and it occurred to him she seemed scared. _Fuck no_… having her mistrust him was bad enough, but to think she was scared of him was even worse. He felt a surge of anger directed at himself for losing control again, and took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. Realising how tightly he was holding on to her he loosened his grip slightly, and when he next spoke his tone was much more calm and measured. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" He sounded less panicked now, but he was still struggling to find the right words. "I want to put things right. Things weren't supposed to turn out like this. Just give me a chance to make it up to you." He hoped that would be good enough for her, but she looked away from him, not wanting to meet his gaze.

"Barty. You've not even… This isn't about you, it's…"

She seemed to be searching for an excuse to get out of here without upsetting him, but it wasn't going to work. Already every word she was saying hurt, and again he tried to shut her up. "No, Gwen. This is about me hiding things from you. I get it and I'm sorry. But don't go. Not now. Please." He was back to pleading, but he hoped it meant she would listen.

Gwen looked indecisive again, and although she still seemed uneasy something in her expression seemed to soften. "I'm not sure…"

Hopefully that meant she was at least considering it. He may have lied about many things to her, but he meant it when he said he was sorry. He also meant the next words to leave his mouth. "I need you to stay."

The moment after he'd said that he heard Gwen draw in a breath, and then she let out a long sigh and looked down at the floor. She bit her lip and he saw her forehead crease into a slight frown, but then she looked up at him again and met his gaze. He didn't know what he must have looked like to her, but clearly there must have been something in his expression that caused her to rethink.

Gently, she put her hands up to take hold of his own and remove them from her shoulders, being extra careful with the burn on his left wrist. He let her move them, realising it had been stupid to grab hold of her in the first place, and his gaze never left her face as she gently took hold of his left hand in her own. Although she still didn't look entirely comfortable, she seemed prepared to listen to whatever he had to say.

She gave a decisive nod before speaking again. "Alright."

**A/N: Sorry that this was quite short. Like I said, I'm struggling to find time to write at the moment. Not entirely happy with it again, but after the reviews I got after last chapter I read it back to myself and thought "hey, this isn't as bad as it felt at the time" so maybe you'll like this as well. Or not. I dunno. Anyway, I'll try and make the next one better, you might just have to wait a bit longer for it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I got round to writing this eventually. Sorry it took so long. I'm going to shut up now and let you get on with reading the chapter.**

_**Part Three, Chapter Three**_

_Why am I doing this? I should leave. I know I should. _But despite telling herself that Gwen realised she couldn't. Even though he was lying to her she had to give him chance to explain himself. And she cared about him too much to simply walk away.

"Alright," she said again, still holding onto his hand. Judging by his expression she thought he seemed as nervous as she was, and she knew that whatever he said next was going to be bad. But at least it would be the truth.

"Gwen…" he began, and then gave a sigh of frustration and looked down at the floor, unwilling to meet her gaze. It seemed as though he was still trying to avoid telling her, and his evasiveness was far from reassuring.

"Barty, please just be straight with me," Gwen said, her tone insistent and more than a little bit desperate.

At that he looked up again, his tongue running over his bottom lip in his signature display of nerves. He drew in a deep breath before speaking. "Gwen, whatever you're thinking right now it's not…I'm…you can't…oh _fuck…_" He stumbled over his words for a few moments before suddenly pulling away from her, turning to face the wall so he didn't have to see the way she was looking at him.

Gwen swallowed nervously, beginning to realise just how bad the situation was but at the same time desperate for answers. "Barty, why the fuck won't you tell me?" she said, a note of anger creeping into her voice. This had been going on long enough; it was about time he was honest with her.

He glanced back at her briefly and then looked away again. "Because it's _dangerous _for you to know."

That wasn't going to be enough to get her to stop asking. If it was dangerous she at least deserved to know the reason. "Why?" She thought she already knew the answer to that, but she needed to hear him say it out loud.

"Because…" Again he trailed off as he realised he didn't want to answer her. "Why do _you_ think, Gwen?" he suddenly snapped as he rounded on her, trying to deflect the question. There was a burning intensity in his eyes and she shrank back slightly, shocked by how angry he seemed. This was so different to how he'd been with her just moments ago. Should she have just pretended everything was fine? Never questioned him about the burn? Then maybe it wouldn't have reached this stage.

Her voice sounded slightly strangled as she responded, coming out rather high due to the fear she felt. "Barty, I don't want to tell you what I think, just in case I'm wrong." That was the most honest answer she could give him.

He laughed darkly. "Gwen, come on, I want to know. Tell me what you really think is going on."

_Fuck, Sander was right. _The fact that he was refusing to tell her only confirmed things. "You know what I think, Barty," she said, her tone challenging despite her fear. "And I'm not wrong, am I?"

He didn't say anything, but the look he gave her told her everything she needed to know. _Oh God…_

The silence dragged out for several seconds and she became desperate for him to say something. She knew she was right, but she just had to hear him confirm or deny it. "Barty, if I cast a healing spell on your arm would I see a Dark Mark, yes or no?"

Again he didn't answer, but instead began to take a few steps towards her. Scared to let him get too close, Gwen backed off. The moment she did so Barty immediately stopped, and that left her feeling both relieved and confused. She knew he was dangerous, but yet it still seemed like he wasn't going to hurt her. What exactly was the deal with him? He'd seemed to be so sweet with her over the past couple of months, and even though she knew a lot of that was a lie had some of it been real too?

As she looked into his eyes she found it was impossible to tell. He just stared at her for a few seconds, his expression not giving anything away, and then he answered her simply with, "Yes."

Her eyes widened in shock. Even though she knew that answer had been coming she hadn't really wanted to believe it. "Fuck…"

She took another step back from him but he didn't move. Instead, he spoke very slowly and firmly, as if he was trying very hard to remain in control. "Gwen, listen. It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?" she shouted, openly angry now. Her emotions were a strange combination of being utterly terrified, humiliated that he'd been able to fool her for so long, and absolutely furious with him for lying. "You're in league with some psycho, murderous fascists and you've been lying to me about it ever since I met you. All that about needing a loan, working for the Department of Mysteries, having important stuff to do for work…it was all bullshit wasn't it? You've been pretending to care about me, but really you've just been using me, haven't you, you bastard?"

All the while she was yelling at him he stood completely still, letting her words wash over him. She found it unnerving how strangely calm he seemed to be. When she was finished he didn't respond immediately, but met her gaze before answering calmly. "No."

That took her by surprise. Even after all that was he still going to keep lying to her, or was that genuinely the truth? She was still angry with him, but was too confused by what he'd just said to keep shouting. "What?"

"Yes, I have a Dark Mark," he responded in the same calm, measured tone as before, "But it's not what you think."

She glared at him. "Barty, the Death Eaters kill and torture people for fun. You can't deny that happens, so how the hell can you justify having a Dark Mark? I never…I didn't think you were like that. But after all the lies you've told what the fuck am I supposed to make of this?"

After her second outburst he glared at her for a moment, but then seemed to calm himself. "I promise you, I don't kill and torture people for fun," he continued to explain, still sounding as if he was trying hard to remain calm. "That isn't what this is about. I have the Mark for reasons which I know are going to seem stupid to you, Gwen, but it's not as bad as what you're thinking. I'm pretty sure you've realised by now my father and I don't have the best of relationships. You can probably also work out that given his line of work, if I were to have a Dark Mark that could be seen as an extreme form of rebelling against him. It could also be seen as reckless and stupid, I wouldn't disagree with you on that, but I promise that's all this is about. I wanted to get back at him for being a bastard, and for some reason thought that the best way to do it would be signing up to join the Death Eaters. I know it was stupid, but whatever you think, Gwen, I never got deeply involved. There was never any chance for me to get dragged in too far before the Dark Lord fell. This was never meant to be about anything more than me trying to prove a point. I didn't realise what the full implications of it were, but I swear I don't have anything to do with the Death Eaters. I've been trying to keep this secret because I know I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry I lied to you, Gwen, but I'm sure you can understand why."

He finished his explanation and then simply stood looking at her, waiting for her to react. For a few moments she was completely speechless, unsure what to make of it. When he put it like that it didn't sound unreasonable, but after all the lies he'd told how the fuck was she supposed to believe a word he said? The way he'd said it…it felt wrong to her, and she couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not. His tone had seemed strangely flat and unemotional, as if he didn't really mean what he was saying, but she wondered if that was because he was trying to prevent himself from showing how he really felt. "Barty…I don't know if I believe you," she said in a tone of complete despair. She didn't want to let herself fall for a lie again, but at the same time she wanted what he said to be true. Despite everything, she still cared about him.

Once she'd spoken she saw a flash of desperation in his eyes, and his self-control seemed to slip slightly as she heard a note of panic creep into his voice. "Gwen, please. You have every right to be angry with me, but can you imagine what would happen if people knew I had the Dark Mark? I had to keep it secret, surely you can see that."

"After everything you were asking me to do for you, you could have trusted me," she responded reproachfully, still reluctant to let herself trust him. "That is, _if _everything you've told me is indeed the truth."

"It is," he said, stepping closer to her again, and this time she didn't back off. "But Gwen, just think what would happen if I got found out and you were in on it too. I had to lie to protect you, Gwen. It's dangerous for you to know about this."

That was probably true, but still…

She didn't have time to make sense of her thoughts before he continued. "Gwen, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about _everything _you've had to go through because of me. But don't let this spoil things between us. I wanted this evening to be perfect for you, and I know I've ruined everything but I swear I never meant to…"

She had to stop him talking. She couldn't think straight when he was saying all this, and she didn't know if she was going to let herself be fooled again. "Barty, please, just let me…"

He didn't let her finish. "Gwen, I had to keep it secret. For you. Because if you knew about this then you're in danger too, and I can't let that happen. I'd be in so much trouble if anyone found out about this, and I don't want you to be caught up in that."

She wished he'd shut up so that she could think. "But why lie to me when...?"

Again he interrupted. "I had to, Gwen. I had to because I love you."

_Fuck. _She immediately shut up, and he went silent too. That had taken her completely by surprise. How on earth was she meant to react that? Was he saying it just to manipulate her again, or did he actually mean it? Although she was suspicious of him, she realised she _wanted _him to mean it. It was completely crazy, she knew. She'd just discovered he'd been lying to her about something deadly serious, and really it was far too early in their relationship to be saying stuff like that anyway. But she wanted to mean that much to him. Was it possible that he loved her? Really? And, fuck, did she love him too?

As she tried to collect her thoughts together she hadn't realised how close he'd gotten to her. She was too wrapped up trying to make sense of what she was feeling to be properly aware of what was going on, but she did know that when he leant in to kiss her she found herself kissing him back.

**A/N: I really don't know whether I like this or not. I think Barty's behaviour changes way too much, and although I did originally intend for that to happen I'm not sure it actually works. And I think Gwen should probably have gotten madder, and Barty probably ought to have been less convincing with his explanation, and the ending feels too awkward, and all sorts of stuff I'm not entirely sure I like about this. But what the hell. I'm tired. It's taken me three weeks to write. I've gone through several drafts of it and I'm still not sure if I've gone for the right approach on the final one. But if I get too hung up on it the story is never going to move forward, so this is what you're getting. Let me know what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I cannot believe how long it's taken me to update this. Literally months, I believe. All I can say is I'm sorry. I've wanted to update this; tried writing the next chapter on several occasions, but it just hasn't been going well. So many other fandoms have forced their way into my life recently and made me want to write for them, and this story has been sat on the backburner, with me wanting to update it but inspiration just hasn't been coming to me. I've got the entire story planned out but I don't have the words to tell it. However, I still intend to keep the promise I made to myself to finish this story. I started writing this a year ago now, and even if it takes another two or three years to complete I'm going to get there eventually. Even though I'm still facing a block with this that I'm struggling to overcome, I'm just going to try writing this next part from and hope it's enough to spark my inspiration again. Sorry that it's so short, but it's all I feel I can manage at this point. I expect several readers will have lost interest by this point as I've kept you waiting for so long, but if you haven't I can't thank you enough for your patience. This chapter is for you, people who have read this from the start and stuck with me ever since. You have no idea how much I appreciate your support.**

_**Part Three, Chapter Four**_

For a second Gwen let herself be taken in. She returned his kiss a little hesitantly at first, but the more she tried to convince herself everything would be okay the more passionately she kissed him, as if that would somehow cement everything he'd said as solid truth. He'd explained everything to her; and it wasn't as bad as she'd feared. So did that mean everything between them would be alright? Could they forget about what had just happened and carry on?

Even though part of her wanted to pretend otherwise, Gwen knew the answer to that question was 'no'. This changed _everything. _How could she possibly go on pretending everything was okay when he'd just admitted to her he'd been involved with the Death Eaters, even on a small scale? And even worse, he'd been lying to her about it all this time. She just didn't know how she could trust him anymore. He'd said he did it because he loved her, and hell, maybe that wasone thing he _was_ being honest about. But it wasn't an excuse. It didn't justify all the lying and manipulating he'd been doing ever since he met her, and she knew she couldn't let him carry on any longer.

Common sense was telling her to walk away. It told her she was being an idiot for letting herself kiss him, for letting him think that she was okay with everything, when really that couldn't be farther from the truth. But despite being so angry with him – despite feeling so hurt and confused and betrayed – she still couldn't bring herself to hate him. The little things he did for her, like the theatre tickets and the chocolate frog; the way he smiled at her; the way he made her feel like she was actually important…that wasn't a lie, was it? He did actually care about her enough to do all that. Maybe he did love her. And actually, she thought she loved him back.

But fuck, that wasn't helping make her head any clearer. She needed time to think about this, but not here and most definitely not right now. If she let this carry on she knew she'd just let herself be taken in again, and she could end up falling for more of his lies of half-truths. Even if she did love him, there was no way she was going to let him get away with that.

Realising she had to put a stop to this before things went too far, Gwen suddenly pushed him away from her. "No!" she cried out, still sounding panicked. "You can't just do that Barty, carry on pretending everything's okay, because it's not!" She glared at him, furious that he seemed to be trying to manipulate her feelings again, but still not sure what he own feelings actually were.

Looking a little shocked that she'd pushed him back so forcefully, he studied her with a look of confusion and his eyes flashed in a way that seemed almost angry. "Gwen…" he began to say, but she spoke over him.

"No, Barty," she said, not allowing him chance to say anything to confuse her even further. "You can't expect me to just pretend nothing's wrong. I need time to think about this. I'm sorry. I have to go."

She began to collect up her things again to leave, and Barty made no move to stop her. He seemed scared to do anything, as if any action from him now might only make the situation worse. Which it probably would. "Gwen," he managed to choke out, his voice sounding desperate. "Please…"

She just ignored him, not trusting herself to respond as he pleaded with her to stay. Once she'd gathered her belongings together she headed to the door, knowing she couldn't disapparate from inside the room, and didn't look back. If she let herself see the hurt look on his face then it would only make this more difficult. As she opened the door she heard him speak out one final time and it sounded as if he'd finally decided to try and follow her, but just as she heard him say, "Gwen, don't go…" the door swung shut behind her. She gripped hold of her wand and made the familiar step-in-a-circle motion in order to leave, her vision blurring both from the disapparition and the tears that pricked at her eyes.

**A/N: I know it's short, but it's a start. I don't know when I'll get the next chapter up, but I promise there is going to be one. This story isn't going to be abandoned. So thank you once again for your patience, and I hope this chapter wasn't too much of a non-event. Hopefully, next time will be better as I think I'll finally be able to get out of that little ditch in the plot I was struggling to know how to write.**

**To hpfan: Thanks for all the feedback, it's been useful to help me decide what direction I'm going to go with this. I'm glad that you're still enjoying it so much, even though I've been notoriously bad at updating recently. I'm going to try and not do that again.**

**To mrsblack: It's not over until the plot resolves itself and the characters have all gotten some kind of closure, so I promise you now there's going to be a lot more to come of this. It might just come out very slowly. But thank you for your continued support and I'm glad that you still like it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Here's the first proper length chapter in what seems like forever. If you want to use this chapter to hit me over the head for taking so long to post it, then I perfectly understand. Anyway, I'm just going to shut up now and let you get on and read it.**

_**Part Three, Chapter Five**_

Barty didn't try to contact Gwen. She'd feared that he might, worried that he'd try and force her to see him when she still hadn't managed to make sense of everything he'd already said, but he never did. It was two days since she'd walked out on him at the hotel, and she hadn't heard from him since.

Part of her was grateful for that. She needed time to wrap her head around everything he'd told her, and she wondered if maybe it meant that he was innocent after all, that he seemed content to give her some space, but she also wondered if perhaps he was staying away because he knew her worst fears were true. Despite the explanation he'd given her, she knew she could no longer trust him. And what if everything she'd suspected was right all along?

No matter how hard she thought about it, Gwen just didn't know what to do. She hadn't told anyone about what happened, not yet. After all, what would she say? That her boyfriend, who also happened to be the son of Bartemius Crouch Sr., had gotten involved with the Death Eaters? Sure, she could prove that he had a Dark Mark, but was turning him in really something she _wanted _to do? Even after everything she'd seen, she still couldn't reconcile herself with the idea that he was a Death Eater. And what if, maybe, he was telling the truth about his side of the story? He may have done something stupid, but Gwen knew full well what would happen if he was exposed as having a Dark Mark. His life would be completely ruined, and part of her still cared about him enough to not want to put him through that.

Arguments and counter-arguments for her to not believe him kept cycling round her head, and none of it made it easier for her to decide what to do. She'd kept everything that had happened secret up until now, but if she didn't talk about this with someone soon she was going to go crazy. There was no way she could tell her parents, given that they both worked closely with Crouch Sr., and she didn't really have any friends as such that she'd trust with something like this. Really, the only option that she could think of was Sander, but given how she knew he felt about Barty she thought that might be a bad idea as well. He'd only see this as confirming his suspicions, and she wasn't ready to let him think that, not when Barty still deserved the benefit of the doubt and should be allowed to explain himself better. Or maybe she was just letting her feelings for him get in the way.

As if it hadn't been bad enough trying to pretend that everything was alright to her parents over the weekend, the conflict raging through her mind was now making trying to work hell as well. Gwen had been sat in her office for over an hour now, staring down at the same sheet of figures without taking any of it in as she tried to make sense of what she was thinking. This wasn't good. No matter what else was going on she really couldn't risk screwing up with her job, but knowing that didn't make it any easier for her to concentrate. Without talking to Barty again she had no idea what to make of the situation, but yet she found the prospect of seeing him again to be both terrifying and something she was desperate for. She needed some proper answers, just to set her own mind at rest. There was still the possibility that he was innocent, although part of her wondered if maybe she was grossly exaggerating that possibility just to make herself feel better. But even if that was the case, the fact he genuinely seemed to care about her had to count for something, right?

Damn, but letting herself get caught up thinking about this now wasn't helping anything. Gwen forced herself to push the conflicting thoughts to the back of her mind and tried to concentrate on work, but she didn't succeed for long before her efforts were interrupted by the sound of a knock on the door. At the noise, she felt her stomach squirm uncomfortably as she simultaneously felt both hope and dread that it might be Barty, but as she looked up to see the door open before she'd even had chance to call out, "Come in," the squirming quickly turned to a very unpleasant sinking sensation as she saw the person who entered.

The woman who stepped into the office was young, with neatly curled platinum blonde hair and lips that were painted a shade of bright pink. She was elegantly, if flamboyantly, attired in a lime green suit jacket and pencil skirt combined with a yellow lemon blouse, and her shoes were a vivid shade of red with very high heels. Perched on the end of her nose were a set of red horn rimmed spectacles, through which she peered down at Gwen as she strutted into the room. "Good morning, Miss Coulthard. Or Gwen, isn't it? How about I call you Gwen? I'm Rita Skeeter, reporter for the _Daily Prophet _and columnist for _Witch Weekly, _as I'm sure you're aware." The woman introduced herself in an overly familiar tone, sitting herself down in the chair opposite Gwen and offering out a hand for her to shake.

Gwen glanced down at it in a mixture of nervousness and disdain. She of course knew who Rita Skeeter was. She'd seen enough of the woman's columns in Christine's copies of _Witch Weekly _to be able to recognise her by sight, and of course there were the countless vitriolic articles she wrote that Gwen saw in the _Prophet _on a daily basis, but what did she want with her? Then Gwen suddenly remembered that awful article she'd seen about her and Barty in the paper the other week, and she had a horrible feeling she knew _exactly _what Skeeter was here for. Just great. This really was the last thing she needed right now.

Gwen didn't accept the offered hand, but instead looked back up at Skeeter's face and addressed her coolly. "I'm sorry, Miss Skeeter, but I'm busy right now. If you'd like investment advice then you'll have to make an appointment like my other clients." She was trying to be as calm and confident as possible, but with her nerves raging and with Skeeter's beady gaze settled on her, that was proving to be difficult.

Seemingly unperturbed, Skeeter let her hand drop and then leaned back casually in the chair, crossing her legs as she did so. "Ah, but I was hoping you and I could have a little chat. You know, girl to girl," she said in a superficially friendly tone.

Despite an increasing sense of panic building in her gut, Gwen tried to hold her ground. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline that offer," she responded firmly, "As I said, I'm busy."

Skeeter's lips curled into a rather vicious and condescending smile. "Oh come on, Gwen, are you worried your boss will find out? Because I won't tell if you won't," she said, tapping the side of her nose, and the way the woman appeared to be leering at her made Gwen's skin crawl.

"No, I apologize, but I must decline. Now please leave my office," Gwen repeated, and was beginning to wonder if she'd be justified in calling security to get rid of this woman. Then she thought that would perhaps give the impression she couldn't handle herself.

Skeeter made no move that suggested she was about to comply, and instead just continued to give Gwen that falsely sweet smile and began to reach into her crocodile skin clutch bag for parchment and a quill. "I was wondering if perhaps you'd be able to tell me more about your relationship with Barty Crouch Jr," she continued, and Gwen felt her stomach sink even further. "What's it like dating the son of one of the Ministry's most senior officials? Do you feel you get along well with his father? And how about that date the pair of you were on on Friday? Any secrets you'd care to share?"

At those words, Gwen suddenly felt herself freeze up in absolute panic. Did she know? Had she somehow found out what happened? Was she looking for evidence to expose her and Barty? "But how…you know about that?" Gwen managed to choke out.

Skeeter gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Of course I know about that, dear," she said, setting down a sheet of parchment and a bright green quill on the desk in front of her, "And I'm sure my readers would love to know all about it, too. There are hundreds of girls who'd love to be in your position, Gwen. Wouldn't you just love to share little bit of insight with them? What's it really like to be dating one of the most eligible bachelors in the wizarding community? Are there any romantic tales about him that you could tell us, just for the girls?"

Gwen just stared at her, unable to speak. _She doesn't know, _she told herself, _she wouldn't be asking these inane questions if she knew. She just thinks we went on a date, that's all. Don't panic. She doesn't know. _Attempting to regain her composure, Gwen drew a deep breath and once again tried to make this harpy just go the hell away. "If you're looking for something to gossip about, then you won't find it here."

Following her response, Skeeter gave her an irritated look and scowled at the quill which was now hovering above the parchment ready to write. It began to scribble something down and Gwen was tempted to look and see what, but she didn't want to take her eyes off of Skeeter. The reporter tried to smooth out her look of annoyance and smiled again. "But, Gwen, this is your golden opportunity to make all the other girls envious…"

"I'm not interested," Gwen said abruptly, cutting her off mid-sentence. Skeeter scowled again, and Gwen took the opportunity to glance down briefly at what the quill was scrawling on the parchment:…_stubbornly refusing to speak to us, the aloof banker… _Gwen didn't have chance to read much more before Skeeter was speaking again, but feeling a rush of indignation Gwen shot a fierce glare at the reporter.

"There's no need to be like that. I only want to tell _your _side of the story; the _true _story. Put an end to all the speculation," Skeeter drawled. The words sounded like sugar coated venom coming from her glossy pink lips.

_The speculation _you _started, _Gwen thought bitterly, but she wasn't about to let herself be drawn in. "Leave my office, or I'll call security," she ordered, her anger beginning to show through in her tone.

Still, Skeeter didn't move. "Is there really any need to act so childishly?" she said condescendingly, although she at last seemed to realise that she wasn't going to get anywhere. "I only hoped the pair of us could conduct a civilised interview like two adults."

Now Gwen was beginning to get the sense she was being baited, perhaps so that she'd say something stupid and Skeeter could write as horrible an article about her as possible, but she was just too much in state of anger and nerves to even formulate a particularly derogatory response. She just wanted the bitch gone. "Look, will you just leave," Gwen said, not even attempting to be polite anymore and with more than a hint of desperation in her voice.

Skeeter didn't look at all happy with that response, and instead put on an expression like a spoiled child who hadn't gotten her own way. Very quickly though, she tried to hide it and forced her fake smile back into place. After a pause, in which she still made no move to leave, Skeeter addressed Gwen in a very calm and measured tone. "Well, Miss Coulthard, I think the pair of us didn't get off to a very good start here. Perhaps we should start again. Allow me to explain exactly what kind of opportunity I'm offering you here…"

Gwen didn't want to hear her explain anything, but was spared having to retaliate further by the sound of somebody else knocking on the office door. Gwen couldn't call out, "It's open," quickly enough before both she and Skeeter turned to see who had entered the room. Gwen had hoped that perhaps it would be Semog or a co-worker or someone else who'd give her a solid reason to get back to work and get rid of Skeeter, but as she saw who it was she realised she didn't recognise the man in question at all.

He was very tall and appeared to be in the latter years of middle age, with black hair that was slicked smoothly over his scalp and greying just slightly at the temples. Everything about him from his stance to his choice of attire cut a very imposing figure – he was standing straight backed, with his arms held stiffly at his sides, and was dressed in an expensively tailored suit that was coloured entirely black, including his shirt, waistcoat and tie. His angular jaw and sharp cheekbones served to give his face a very harsh look, which was emphasised even further by the stern expression in his dark grey eyes. But even despite the rather intimidating way the man appeared to be surveying her, Gwen couldn't help but feel that there was something strangely familiar about him.

The man's eyes flickered from Gwen to Rita Skeeter for a moment, taking in the scene in front of him, and then he turned back to Gwen and held her gaze as he addressed her. "Miss Coulthard, I apologize for interrupting you, but if it would be convenient for me to wait in the corridor I would like to speak with you as soon as possible." When he spoke, his English accent was so crisp he sounded like he could be a radio news reporter from the 1960's.

Relieved that she'd found an excuse to get rid of Skeeter, even if she didn't know who this man was, Gwen answered him quickly. "Oh, it's no problem. Miss Skeeter was just leaving. I'd be more than happy to speak with you now."

She stood up and gestured for Skeeter to do the same, but the reporter did so with a rather disgruntled expression and turned disdainfully to the newcomer. "Actually, I'd hoped Gwen and I could have just a few minutes longer here, if that's quite alright. We've really only just started," Skeeter said, putting on an artificial smile for the man which didn't match the very insistent and cool look in her eyes.

The man just gazed back at her with a look of equal disdain. "And may I respectfully inquire as to who you are and what your business is with Miss Coulthard? She has quite clearly indicated that she wishes for you to leave, and since I have urgent matters to discuss with her I would be grateful if you would oblige."

Skeeter shot him a fierce look that showed she clearly did not appreciate being addressed like that. "I am Rita Skeeter," she replied quite indignantly, "I write for the _Daily Prophet, _reporting to the public things that they need to know. My business with Miss Coulthard is none of yours. Now may I ask who _you _are?"

Gwen held her breath, wondering who in Merlin's name this man was and how he was going to react to that, but when he made his reply to Skeeter she found she couldn't help but be even more grateful that he'd showed up when he had.

"Who _I _am?" the man repeated mockingly, the corners of his mouth twitching just ever so slightly in what might be a smirk. "But of course, wouldn't that be most interesting to someone of your kind, madam? Someone who makes their own living invading the lives of others?" Despite his meticulously polite tone, his words were flooded with contempt. "You take their words and twist them like poison ivy to make paint, which you then use to blacken their reputations. Every inch of privacy or dignity is cut away by the sharp blades of your quills, as you suck on their misfortunes and feast on their downfalls like a leech, seeking only to sustain your own careers. You call yourself a journalist, madam, but in truth, what you are, is a _parasite_."

Following that speech, the man paused for dramatic effect, and Gwen couldn't help but get the impression that he was trained in either Roman rhetoric or classical theatre. Skeeter just gaped at him for a moment, shocked at the way he'd spoken to her, and then after a pause the man continued in a tone that was as forceful as ever. "Now, as Dutch Secretary of State for International Magical Affairs and a member of the European Aurors Council, I will ask you just this once to leave." At that point he suddenly produced his wand, but instead of holding it as if he were about to cast a spell, he held out the handle so that both Gwen and Rita could see the gold badge attached to it in the shape of an eagle. Gwen didn't recognise it, but clearly understood it was some kind of official emblem.

As the one who was standing closer, Rita examined it more closely for a moment, and then with a deeply angry and frustrated look she glared back up at the man, before turning back to Gwen and saying in a falsely sweet voice dripping with malice, "Well, perhaps some other time then." She then snatched up her parchment and quill and stormed from the room without a backward glance.

Gwen stared after her for a few seconds and the turned back to the man, more than a little astounded by what she'd just witnessed. That had been…well, she wasn't sure if incredible was quite the word for it, but it had been impressive to say the least. Even if the man hadn't introduced himself as a Secretary of State she could quite probably have guessed he was a politician, but she was definitely a little surprised to learn that a man with such a refined English accent was Dutch. But since he _was _Dutch though, and a Secretary of State, did that mean he was who she thought he was?

She was spared much speculation or having to ask by the man taking advantage of her speechlessness and introducing himself. "My apologies, Miss Coulthard, but I cannot abide journalists and I sensed her presence was distressing you. I hope I did not act out of turn." Gwen was still at a loss for words, but he didn't actually give her any time to respond before continuing. "Perhaps it is time I introduced myself more formally. My name is Arien van der Lijn, Dutch Secretary of State for International Magical Affairs. I believe you know my nephew, Sander Westerbeck."

**A/N: Here you go at last! I hope it was alright for you because it was a bit difficult for me to get back into the flow of writing this, but it felt quite good to be working on this again. I don't want to make any promises as to when I'll next update, as I have about half a dozen stories on the go at the moment all of which I want to write more on, but I will say that I don't intend to leave it another few months before I update again. Also, I'm going on a trip to Amsterdam next week, and if that doesn't at least inspire me to write more about Sander and Martijn then I don't know what will.**

**Also, you got to meet Arien this chapter! Yes, he is very eccentric and melodramatic, but I've envisioned him that way in my head for ages and I think a character like him will definitely make this story more interesting, especially given the role I have lined up for him later on. If you go back and read chapter twenty five of volume two it might explain better why he has such contempt for journalists, but if you don't want to reread it then basically he blames journalists for what happened to his sister and niece (Sander's mum and sister) because of the smear campaign in the press against Henryk de Koning. I expect most of you can't even remember all that at this point (I actually had to reread it myself) but it's too complicated to synopsize briefly, so if you want to know more of the details you'll have to read chapter twenty five again.**

**Thank you so, so much to everybody who has waited so patiently for an update, and also thank you to all the new readers I gained during the hiatus! It's really great to know people still want to read this and I'm very grateful for all your reviews.**

**P.S. I'm going to start doing review responses just via PM, because they're getting to be too long and too many to put them in the notes. I started doing it this way because it's the only way I have to respond to anonymous reviews, but if you leave a signed review then I'll probably just get back to you via PM. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm baaack! Well, I never really left, but I'm back working on this story again. I know it's been over a year since I updated this, so I expect quite a few readers will have lost interest by now and the rest will be annoyed with me for taking so long to update, but like I've said all along, I still intend to finish this no matter how long it takes. I read a story the other day that was 120k words long and took seven years to complete, so although I don't want this to take quite that long, it's going to happen. As to when the next update will be, I don't want to make any promises I can't keep since the number of WIP stories I have has literally quadrupled since I was last working on this, but I'm going to try and not let it fizzle out again.**

**I know my writing style has changed a lot in this past year, so there will probably be a noticeable difference, and also from this point onwards I'm going to start spelling "Westerbeck" as "Westerbeek" (like I wish I'd done from the start, but this story is way too damn long to go back and change it all) because that is the more authentic spelling. I'm also completely bluffing my way through the finance stuff again, because while I have tried to get a better understanding of it all for the purposes of writing the story, most of it still baffles me. I've really tried going with something I believe makes sense, but each time I've thought I understood something about this I later find out that it's wrong.**

**hpfan, thank you so much for your loyalty and I'm sorry this has taken so long. I wish you'd get an account so I could PM you! And thank you so much to everybody else who's discovered this story and reviewed it while it lay dormant. I cannot thank you enough for your support! I really hope I won't disappoint you with the lack of updates again.  
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_**Part Three, Chapter Six**_

When the man finished introducing himself, it confirmed what Gwen had been suspecting. So this was the uncle Sander had told her about. She stumbled over her words for a moment, forgetting what the correct greeting was, before managing to respond with, "Yes, I know him. I'm Gwen Coulthard. Pleased to meet you," and offering a rather timid handshake. She was still flustered over her encounter with Skeeter, and now that she was face to face with a man she knew to be high up in European magical politics it threw her even further. With thoughts of Barty still weighing on her mind she was terrified of accidentally saying something she shouldn't in front of the wrong person, and it didn't help that Arien was far from her mental imaginings of him. She'd assumed that he'd have at least some of the easygoing nature both Sander and Martijn seemed to share, but he was in fact far more imposing than she could have imagined. Martijn had mentioned that he had an ambitious and sombre nature, but she didn't realise that would translate to him being quite so formidable when she met him in person.

"And it is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Coulthard. My nephews speak very highly of you," he replied, taking her meek handshake with one that was much more firm and assured. She blushed and once he let go of her hand she withdrew it awkwardly. Despite his politeness and the favour he'd just done her, he wasn't exactly easy to relax around. But then, she supposed that no circumstances would be easy for her to relax in currently.

_Calm, _she told herself, trying to clear thoughts of Barty and Skeeter from her mind and just focus on whatever Arien wanted. Once she managed to clear her head of panic somewhat, she found she was very curious as to what in Merlin's name he was doing here. "Please, take a seat. What can I help you with?" Her voice sounded satisfactorily calm and professional as she sat back down and he took the chair opposite her.

He cleared his throat before beginning. "Well, Miss Coulthard, as you have been advising my nephews on investments in their business and securing financial support for the UK branch of the company, I feel I should alert you to the fact that their father – and my brother-in-law – may shortly be paying you a visit in an attempt to repurchase all shares held by Gringotts. While I appreciate you cannot prevent him purchasing any available stocks or shares with his own money, I would please request that you do not advise him to do so. Jeroen is…" Arien paused a moment, considering his words, and then said, "Not fully aware of the workings of wizarding finance, or indeed the workings of the wizarding world in general, but recent developments have led him to believe that buying out as much of the company as possible is in the best interests of his sons, whether they wish him to or not."

Following that there was a pause, during which Gwen tried to fully understand what he was telling her. Finding she couldn't, she opened her mouth and was about to express her puzzlement, but seeing that his explanation had been inadequate Arien continued.

"Of course, I understand this must make little sense to you given how little you know of the situation," Arien said apologetically. "Please allow me to elaborate further. Following the downfall of He Who Must Not Be Named, Jeroen has developed concerns about the future of the company and there is some dispute among he and his sons about the extent of his involvement in their affairs. There are also other matters in dispute that I will not burden you with, but Jeroen believes he will be able to solve these by investing his own money in Desdinova Dark Detectors, despite Sander and Martijn's requests that he remains uninvolved in the business. I have tried to dissuade him of this, but he will not listen to me nor to his sons. I would hope that if an expert were to advise him on the matter, he would be better persuaded to abandon this foolish plan of his."

There was another pause, during which Gwen found she was beginning to make more sense of this, but it was also raising further questions. It wasn't as if she didn't already have enough on her mind, but for the sake of her job she was trying to keep up. "So, you're saying that Sander and Martijn's father wishes to buy out shares in DDD? Which you don't want him to?"

He nodded in confirmation. "That is correct, yes."

And now for the part that puzzled her. "And do Sander and Martijn know about this?" If they did, she wondered why it was Arien here speaking to her and not one of them.

Arien looked like he was about to begin his answer, but then he sighed wearily and seemed to choose a different reply to the one he'd initially intended. "I'm afraid the situation has grown rather complicated, but no, I do not believe Sander and Martijn are fully aware of their father's intentions, nor will they act on it if they become so. Therefore I feel it is down to me to intervene. Although I have had some involvement with the company, I do not own it and I understand you cannot discuss the business's current financial arrangements with anyone but my nephews, but that will not stop my brother-in-law from trying. Jeroen will most likely attempt to contact you regarding an investment in DDD, and I would be most grateful if you would advise him against any and all things he proposes."

Although the circumstances behind this were still a mystery to her, Gwen seemed to think she understood his basic request. "So you'd like me to prevent him from becoming financially involved in the company at all, if he comes to me about it?"

Again, he nodded. "I would be most obliged."

Gwen couldn't help but frown a little as she considered it, feeling a little awkward. "Mr van der Lijn," she began, sounding apologetic, "While I appreciate what you're telling me, the truth is that it is my job to advise clients on sound investments. Desdinova Dark Detectors is in a strong position: it has stocks available and its share prices are rising. Any wizard with the means to buy shares currently would be well advised to do so."

She was worried that her response might provoke irritation or displeasure from him, given that he seemed to be a man accustomed to getting what he wanted, but instead he just gave a small smile. "Of course, I understand perfectly Miss Coulthard, and I apologise if you feel that as a professional this is not something you could do. However, you should perhaps be made aware that Jeroen is a muggle. His understanding of these matters is not the greatest, and I cannot see things ending well for him. In truth, I believe his intended actions to be in retaliation against Sander rather than an attempt to make a sound financial investment. You see, Miss Coulthard, despite his non-magical background Jeroen has attempted to immerse himself in the wizarding world as fully as possible, and I do not think he has been as successful as he believes himself to be. He currently owns bonds for the Dutch Minaret, which I believe he intends to sell in order to purchase shares in the UK branch of DDD. However, the value of the British Galleon has strengthened considerably following the defeat of He Who Must Not Be Named, and therefore the exchange rate with Dutch currency is much poorer than it was a month ago. The returns on the company would therefore not justify the sale of these bonds until the economy has shifted. I'm sure you can agree that in this situation, the best advice you could give him would be to advise that he do nothing at all."

There it was again; that smooth politician's rhetoric that he'd deployed against Skeeter earlier. Although Gwen was still a little uncertain about this, she wasn't sure she could really say no to him. "Yes, I see. If he should contact me I'll advise him against making such a move."

Arien smiled, seemingly satisfied that the conversation had concluded the way he'd wished. "Thank you, Miss Coulthard. I would appreciate that. Should he ask, also please assure him that Desdinova Dark Detectors is in a secure position financially. I know you are not at liberty to discuss the details, but if only he would be more convinced that Sander and Martijn are capable of taking care of themselves, perhaps he would not be so inclined to make foolish decisions."

Gwen didn't comment on that, feeling that it wasn't really her place to have an opinion, but she gave a small nod of confirmation. "I can assure him of that."

He nodded back in acknowledgement before rising to his feet. "Thank you again, Miss Coulthard. I apologize for the spontaneity of this meeting, but I have only arrived in England this morning and felt I should see you before Jeroen grasps the opportunity to do so first. I shall inform Sander and Martijn that I have been to see you, and I expect that they will wish to discuss some things with you further, but it is likely that Jeroen shall make contact with you very soon."

Gwen got awkwardly to her feet as well, still feeling a little cowed by him although he had been perfectly pleasant towards her. "Well, um, thank you for making me aware of that." As she contemplated the possibility that she'd soon be meeting yet another of Sander's family members, she found she was actually quite eager to see what he was like. She hoped he was much more like Sander, although given the way Arien had talked about him she wasn't sure what to expect. "And thank you for earlier, as well. For getting rid of her, I mean."

His expression darkened momentarily once she said that, a look of distaste crossing his features as he was reminded of Skeeter. Gwen found she was inclined to agree with the sentiment. "It was no bother," he replied, "Unfortunately, it seems that journalists are part of a profession that requires them to show neither dignity nor respect, although we are not permitted to deal with them as brutally as we are with other pests." He then reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and took out a small rectangular piece of card, which he held out towards her. "If I can ever be of service to you again, Miss Coulthard, in any matter please don't hesitate to contact me."

She took the offered card and examined it. In glossy gold lettering was printed "Arien van der Lijn" in cursive script, with a title in Dutch below it followed by two addresses which Gwen assumed were for floo and owl, although the only word that was the same in English was "floo". A moving icon of a dragon was creeping its way around the edges of the card in perpetual circles.

Gwen looked up at Arien again, who was straightening out his jacket and then cleared his throat. "If you would excuse me, I have a meeting at the UK Auror Office I must attend, although it was a pleasure to meet you."

He offered her his hand again in farewell, and she shook it a little more confidently this time. "Likewise."

A moment later he had left the office.

As the door swung shut behind him, Gwen sank back into her chair again, still wondering what to make of that whole encounter. Already too much had happened today, and it seemed likely that she would later be encountering Jeroen Westerbeek as well. This was all too much. As she recalled how Arien had mentioned a meeting at the Auror Office it immediately dragged her thoughts back to Barty and her stomach gave an uncomfortable squirm. Closing her eyes, Gwen put her arms out on the desk in front of her and let her head fall onto them, feeling overwhelmed by it all.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you so much to ArtMusicWho and pas une pipe for sticking with me. It's very much appreciated after I left this alone for so much time. I've now moved my base of operations to Canada, which means that updates are still likely to come at random times of day as my sleeping patterns are still completely irregular and unhealthy no matter what time zone I'm in. I have however discovered that while Canadian universities set generally easier work than British ones, there's a hell of a lot more of it, so before I get weighed down with assignments I'm trying to get a couple more updates in as I don't want to leave this story collecting dust for another year.**

_**Part Three, Chapter Seven**_

_She knows._ Waves of worry to the rhythm of those two words kept crashing round Barty's head. Trying to hide and suppress the fear it brought only made things worse, but it was all he could do to not let on to Bellatrix and Rodolphus what had happened. If Bellatrix thought there was even a chance that he'd become a liability, Merlin knows what she'd do to him, or to Gwen. Short of his father finding out, he couldn't think of anything that would fuck him over more. Except what Gwen might possibly do now.

He'd already picked up a handful of floo powder over a dozen times, wanting to contact her, but each time he'd chickened out and flung it back in the pot. He didn't know if he was risking pushing her further away if he tried to pull her back, or if any lie he thought to tell her would fall flat and unconvincing. There were several excuses he'd thought up, but each one seemed increasingly weak and stupid the more he considered actually using it. He wanted more than anything to convince her that it would be okay and nothing had to change from how it was before, but he couldn't even convince himself.

_How did I fuck this up so badly? _

There was one option playing on his mind; one he was almost sure would work: the Obliviate Charm. That was the most logical option, right? After all, he'd used it before, yet somehow the thought of using it again felt strangely wrong and obscene. He didn't want to do that to Gwen. It made no sense, he knew. Last time it had been necessary, so what was the difference now? Why was it so worse than lying to her? It was for her own good, if she didn't remember. He ought to do it, he told himself: go see her, and obliviate her, and then everything would be back to normal. Except...

It was beyond frustrating that he couldn't even make sense of his own thought processes, but all he knew was that obliviating her after this was the surest way to destroy anything that there may have been between them. Even if it meant taking a risk, he didn't want to lose that. Aside from Gwen, what else did he have? A father who didn't give a crap about him, a mother who wouldn't be around much longer and two Death Eaters who didn't care about him beyond his usefulness. The only man who had ever accepted him was now most likely dead, and any efforts to find him should he still be out there were proving fruitless. He felt like a traitor for even letting the thought cross his mind, but he couldn't help but wonder, was it even worth it? The Dark Lord may not even still be alive, but Gwen most definitely was. She was _right there_ and he already had her. Was it worth giving that up for the sake of some cause that seemed to be headed nowhere except danger? Maybe he should do what he'd promised her he already had: give it all up: back out, choose Gwen, and then maybe everything would be okay. Because maybe he'd meant it when he said he loved her. That thought scared him, but at the same time it gave him some hope that maybe he did have some other option than continuing with this.

The prospect of backing out now was both terrifying and sickening: he felt angry at himself each time it crossed his mind, yet the thought kept coming back. Doubts that he'd never imagined he would have were proving hard to conceal. He lasted the weekend before Bellatrix finally decided to say something.

"What's wrong with you?" she demanded of him Monday morning while he was getting breakfast. "You've been acting all skittish these past couple of days. Is there something we should know about?"

Although he'd tried to plan for her eventually asking, the answer didn't come as smoothly as he'd have liked. "Everything's fine," he grunted, sounding about as convincing as a kid in Honeydukes denying that they'd stolen candy while a chocolate frog was croaking in their pocket.

Bellatrix shot him a glare. "Really? Because from the way you've been acting anyone would think you've been hiding something from us."

Rodolphus was sat beside her at the kitchen table, browsing today's copy of the _Prophet, _but as he noticed the confrontational edge to her voice he paused to look up at both of them. Bellatrix continued to glare at Barty while he stood by the stove, using his wand to poach some eggs. Barty glared defiantly back, hoping he was managing to look indignant instead of scared. "I said everything's _fine. _You really think if there was something you needed to know I wouldn't tell you?"

She stood up then, looking angry. "I don't know what to think, considering how you just went and vanished Friday night without telling us where you were going. Doesn't do much to help me trust you, Crouch."

At that point the flame on the stove suddenly flared up, Barty's anger causing him to lose control of the spell he was using to regulate it. With an abrupt wave of his arm he extinguished it altogether and turned to focus on Bellatrix. "I had a life before you, you know, and I still have one outside of you. You aren't my fucking mother, I don't have to tell you where I am all the time."

Bella's nostrils flared in anger in response to his rudeness, and she looked like she was barely managing to refrain from hexing him. "Remember whose house this is, boy. If what you're doing after dark puts us in danger, don't think for a second you're going to get away with it.

Barty swallowed to calm his nerves, wanting this argument to be over. He really didn't want to have to get into the details of what happened. "I was with a girl, alright?" he snapped defensively, hoping to just fob her off with that.

That only seemed to make her angrier. "So you're saying that while we're searching for a way to find the Dark Lord, all the time having to avoid your father's aurors, you're more interested in swanning off with some girl than finding your master?" She was advancing on him now, looking like this may well descend into a wand fight, but Rodolphus cleared his throat and intervened. He didn't much seem to want to have to deal with his wife losing her temper.

"Bella, he's a kid. That's the kind of thing kids do. I know he seems like a useless little shit most of the time, but I do think he still wants to help us."

She turned back to snap harshly at him. "I didn't ask for your input."

Rodolphus looked like he might retaliate for a moment, but then decided if she was in that kind of mood then he'd just let her take it out on Crouch. He leaned back in his seat again while she turned back to Barty.

"If you think you really want to be one of us, Crouch, you've got a lot to prove."

"I killed that Laura bitch, didn't I?"

"You think that means anything? You think that's important when you've been working in the Law Enforcement Department for Merlin knows how long and you've contributed almost nothing? I think you're scared, Crouch. You're too much of a coward to commit to anything with us. I don't think you even know what loyalty is!"

That hit a nerve. He glowered at her, flexing his grip on his wand before giving a bitter laugh. "Really, Bella? That's what you believe? Well, if you want to know what my problem is, let me tell you: it's been what? Two fucking months since the Dark Lord vanished, and we're no closer to finding him. Not even a single step. You think I'm not trying? You think I'm being lazy? Well I work in the fucking Ministry Bella, and I can tell you that the reason we've found nothing is because there isn't anything to find. The paperwork's all been signed off on the investigation: there's no evidence to indicate where he might be or if he's even still out there. So believe me, if anything did show up, you'd be the first to know, but I'm not going to clutch at straws and fool myself into thinking there's some lead as to what happened to the Dark Lord when there isn't."

They'd both been shouting, but she lowered her voice to a level of furious quiet as she hissed out the next sentence. "So you won't even deny it? You've lost all faith."

He fixed her with a scowl. "Did I fucking say that?" Really, he was just trying to distract her from the real issue affecting him, but he found he was surprised by how genuinely he meant the words he was saying. "I have just as much faith as you, Bella, but unlike you, I'm living in the real world. That apparitions report was a dead end and I'm the one who has to find some other lead, and that isn't fucking easy when there isn't one. So why don't you back off? I'm putting myself at way more risk of exposure here than you are."

"Well if that's the case, maybe having you around is too dangerous for us," she snarled venomously, raising her wand.

Barty raised his own in retaliation, wondering if this was going to descend into a fight after all. From behind Bellatrix, Rodolphus spoke up again in a cautionary tone. "Bella, don't do anything that's going to cause us more problems than it solves."

She didn't look back at him but nor did she move, instead continuing to glare furiously at Barty, but having realized that cursing him wouldn't help.

Barty gave her a scowl in return, having had enough of this argument. "I'm going now," he said dismissively, not even giving a crap about breakfast anymore as he made his way over to the fireplace.

"Don't you dare, Crouch," she spat at him, stepping forward again. "We aren't finished."

He grabbed a handful of floo powder before stepping into the fireplace and turning back to her. "I'm going to work," he repeated again condescendingly. "At the Ministry. Which is where I have to go if I want to find out information, like you want me to. Now are you going to follow me?"

His tone was childish and insolent, and she was clearly livid that he'd dare talk to her this way, but he'd rather she be mad at him for this than risk her getting close to the topic of Gwen.

"You little…" she began, advancing towards the fireplace, but he drowned out whatever insult she threw at him by dropping the powder into the grate and saying his destination. The world suddenly began to swim in a rush of green flame as the magic took effect. Bella's face receded into the distance as the fire whirled him away, appearing contorted by anger and the warping effect of floo powder before finally being replaced by the black marble halls of the Ministry. As he stepped out of the fireplace he reflected on how that was one of the most satisfying things he'd ever done. At least pissing off Bella provided a welcome distraction from thoughts of Gwen. He knew she was going to make him regret this later, but right now, he just couldn't bring himself to care.


End file.
